Tetro | Review

One of the rare penned projects from the director of Apocalypse Now and The Godfather films, the micro-budgeted, monochromatic feature with flashes of color a la Rumble Fish asks viewers to engage in a read between-the-lines discussion on how sons eventually eclipse their father’s legacy and standing in the world. Most likely something that the author himself witnessed first hand with his musically inclined father, Francis Ford Coppola infuses his screenplay with a classical narrative formula that draws upon what was once his own family dynamic. The Argentinean set tale brings issues of unrealized potential, unfinished business and the maladdress of criticism to the table and is for the most part, conveyed in a harmless, almost naïve manner. Tetro is not a return to form for Coppola, but yet feels nurtured and cared for which sets it apart from his more recent work.

In a dormant but not necessarily boring pocket of Buenos Aires, Vincent Gallo’s character of Tetro is the tortured genius who has never quite lived up to his potential – it is what his poor girlfriend played by Maribel Verdu was able to confirm first hand and which she is able to share with an unannounced guest. Like an expat living in exile, Tetro declares to his visiting brother Bennie that Angelo, his former self, is in fact, dead. Told in a linear fashion, but constantly referring to the past, Tetro must come to terms with the guilt of abandoning his lineage while not letting his guard down. As the film re-organizes certain pieces of the puzzle, the notion of identity is further explored in a double melodramatic whammy conclusion.

Still wet behind the ears, first time actor Alden Ehrenreich recalls of silver screen stars that had their debuts in the same rich black and white pictures where a young Brando became legend. The curious demeanor of the character clashes superbly with Gallo’s overly distraught, jealous unwelcoming elder character. It makes all scenes where the estranged younger brother pries open into his older brother’s secret past all the more warranted. Unfortunately, the set of characters including Carmen Maura’s short presence only reminds us how little of a “grip” this cast actually has.

Colorization comes into play for several flashbacks pertaining to the death of the mother and the birth of Angelo’s own demise, littered with self conscious strokes and an ad-libbed approach without much emotional appeal, one can’t help but feel that that Tetro could have passed off better as a stage piece which not surprisingly makes sense since it often references the performing arts and main conflicts are resolved around sets of tables and chairs.

Reviewed at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. Director’s Fortnight Section.

127 Mins. May, 14th, 2009

Rating 2 stars